Election Reform

Issue: The Tax Collector Looks To Make The Office Non-partisan In Future Elections.

May 25, 2006

Pete Carney hasn't had a chance yet to make his mark on a job he sought for six years. But the newly appointed Palm Beach County tax collector is already looking to make a groundbreaking change: He wants the position to be non-partisan.

For an office charged with crunching numbers, collecting tax payments and renewing vehicle tags, the request is a no-brainer. Democratic or Republican party politics have no role in how the job is performed, so they should have no role in how it is filled.

County commissioners should put the request on the November ballot for voters to decide, just as they did in 2002 for the property appraiser, sheriff and elections supervisor. The change won't help Carney, at least in the short term. Though he's a Republican in a largely Democratic county, he'd still have to get elected the old fashioned way come November.

Commissioners, though, shouldn't stop with the tax collector. They also need to ask voters to take the unwelcome party labels off their own office doors. After all, what do repairing potholes, building ball fields and granting zoning easements have to do with party ideology? Even the most raucous debates -- and there have been a few -- rarely if ever fall along party lines. More often they are dictated by parochial interests, personal allegiances or bitter rivalries.

The only time partisanship becomes an issue is on the campaign trail, and in the ballot box. That's why the D and R should be removed from the equation, because they needlessly distract voters from what really warrants their weight: a candidate's political experience, professional expertise, civic background and overall fitness for public office.

Of course, being non-partisan doesn't mean the position becomes non-political. Given the power of the job, it's impossible to drain politics from public office. But there's no use injecting party labels where they don't belong. And they're not relevant in the tax collector's office, or on the County Commission dais.

BOTTOM LINE: Make the tax collector non-partisan, and county commissioners, too.